Kutschke J, Harris JR, Bengtson MB., et al. - In a Norwegian twin cohort, researchers intended to determine if there is a link between irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) and social strain or low support in close relationships, including spouse, friends, and family. Participants were 5,442 Norwegian twins aged 40–80, of whom 589 suffered from IBS. About 30% and 40% of the variation in IBS liability, social strain, and low support was explained by genetic effects. The connection between IBS and the social measures reflect shared familial rather than causal effects as suggested by the co‐twin control analyses. The genetic variation of the risk of IBS was completely shared with genetic effects for variation in the social measures, stressing the contribution of genes involved in central brain–gut mechanisms to genetic variation in IBS risk.